PHYSICAL CULTURE FOR WOMEN. I am exceedingly anxious to remove the impression, which has, I fear, gained ground, that my system is not a thing for women. Now-a-days, when women have practically freed themselves from the antiquated ideas of a generation or so ago, there ought to be small difficulty in convincing them that to make the best of themselves, in a physical sense, is just as imperative a duty for them as for their brothers. Women go in for all sorts of sports and pastimes to-day; they bicycle, row, play tennis and hockey, and not infrequently display no small degree of excellence in sports which have hitherto been regarded as “for men only.” This is a hopeful sign, but I am not at all sure that in many cases it is not more provocative of harm than good. Women are possessed of a great amount of nervous energy, and, unless their bodies and organs are gradually and systematically trained to bear exertion and fatigue, they are likely to attempt performances which are quite beyond their physical power, although, buoyed up as they are by a fund of nervous energy and mental exhilaration, they may observe no ill-effects at the time. This is one reason why it is so advisable for women to commence by working upon my system, which is so mild and gradual that they can pursue it without any risks, and, while daily growing stronger and healthier, be scarcely conscious that they are making any effort whatever. I am quite aware that there is a very wide-spread notion that exercise tends to coarsen and render a woman unbeautiful, but that is absolutely false. Were there any truth in it I should indeed despair of converting my fair readers to my way of thinking, for truly it is woman’s mission to look beautiful. But the idea is absurd; Nature, which intended woman to look lovely, also intended her to be healthy; indeed, the two are practically synonymous. Of course, improper, violent and one-sided exercise will naturally result in making a woman clumsy, heavy, and ungraceful, but proper exercise, having for its object symmetrical and perfect development, will have an exactly contrary effect. Curiously enough, the visible effect of proper exercise upon a woman’s muscles is not precisely the same as upon those of a man. Regular and gradually progressive exercise will not make a woman’s muscles prominent, but will cause them to grow firm and round and impart to the outline of the figure those graceful contours which are so universally admired. Without well-conditioned muscle the most beautifully proportioned woman in the world will look comparatively shapeless and flabby; her muscles are not required to show up as in the case of a man’s, but they must be there all the same as a solid foundation for the overlying flesh. Take a woman’s arm, for instance; if it has been duly exercised and developed, it is easy enough to see that its shapeliness and good modelling are due to the muscles; white